It has been a while since the iconic Prithvi theatre staged any production. After eight to nine months of eerie uncertainty, Naseerudin Shah has brought his iconic play Einstein back to the legendary stage today. Written by Canadian playwright Gabriel Emmanuel, the actor first stepped into the shoes of the Nobel laureate six years ago. Shah says that over the years the script has remained the same.

“It was a perfect script to which I have made no changes. Gabriel managed to condense a very significant part of Einstein’s life into an hour and a quarter. What emerges is a sort of line drawing of the man which is very precise and captures all his qualities, his wisdom and his sense of humour,” he says.

Einstein, it is well documented, was an ardent lover of literature and classical music. The scientist played the violin, admired Mozart's music and always kept a copy of Don Quixote on his night table. “I myself find Don Quixote fascinating and I love music though I don’t know much about it” says the 70-year-old, before he quips, “I was hopeless at physics and can’t claim to understand one millionth of what Einstein said but his puckishness and precision of expression are what charmed me. I can’t claim any affinity with him except that we both believe in the God of Spinoza.”

As for the future of the theatre community, the actor is hopeful that there will be better days ahead. But he does not negate the possibility that the road to recovery will be tough. “There’s undoubtedly tough times ahead for theatre people. But there was the plague in Shakespeare’s time, too. Theatres were shut for a year but recovered. I am optimistic that’ll happen here as well,” he concludes.